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The Last Word

Summer reading A dozen trucking terms fun for the whole family Anchor it to apply the brakes in an emergency stop Bean hauler a trucker hauling produce Big Hat a state trooper Cackle crate a trucker hauling live poultry Cash box a toll booth Chicken coop a weigh station Coffee pot a restaurant Cowboy a reckless driver Discos rooftop lights on a police car Gator a tire tread in the road Skinny a two-lane

“Some of you might be wondering why you should listen to a sermon on survival by a small dealer from Wyoming — a state where sheep and cows way outnumber people. Well, as a single-line Freightliner dealer in a state with virtually no domiciled heavy-truck population, I know something about survival.” — Stan Devore, new chairman of American Truck Dealers, at the group's recent convention in Baltimore

Letter of the month

Your well-written article (Outside the Box, 4/01, pg. 84) about the reluctance to offer AC power at truckstops was right on the point and your idea about a survey is excellent. I wanted you to be the first to know about the New York State Thruway Authority's project that will electrify 54 truck parking spaces at two travel plazas on I-90 near the interchange with I-81 in Syracuse. The sites will be built later this year at our DeWitt (eastbound I-90) and Chittenango (westbound I-90) travel plazas. The AC electricity will be activated by sliding a credit card and punching in the number of hours desired. The cost will be about a $1 per hour. — John Platt, executive director, NYS Thruway Authority

Cooking … with diesel

For the last nine years, Cooking Light, a magazine aimed at food and fitness buffs, has sent a tractor-trailer out for seven months at a time (March through November) to visit supermarkets in cities around the country. The trailer hauls two tons of recipe cards, coupons, nutritional information and product samples, along with plenty of subscription cards for interested readers.

“First and foremost, we try to get readers to come to one of the events,” says Aubry Backer, public relations manager for Cooking Light's “On The Move” tour. “We have experts on hand to answer healthy eating and cooking questions, and we advertise our food sponsors' products.” But what we really want to know is where the “On The Move” driver pulls over for chow.

Renaissance mechanic

George Kakissis is what you might call an artist — both of sculpture and of maintenance. A mechanic with the equipment division of the County of Arlington (VA), he maintains everything from ambulances to police cars. In his free time, Kakissis works on another passion — making sculpture out of various metals, the results of which he displays at his workstation. Thanks also to the classical music he likes to play while he works, F. I. “Ric” Hiller, the county's equipment chief, has taken to calling Kakissis the shop's Renaissance Mechanic. “It's just one example of the technical expertise our mechanics have,” Hiller notes. “And it shows we are definitely not a shade-tree operation.”

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